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Kathy it sounds like you live in a great area to forage, pawpaws, chestnuts, walnuts, probably persimmons and mushrooms too. That is like my family's Missouri farm, plus there were some wild greens, quail, and and fish in the 1 acre pond. What didnt grow well was corn, soybeans, or wheat. I remember, I used a hammer to crack the walnuts.

My 2 acres here is not wild, and when it was there probably wasnt much for human consumption. Maybe rabbits. Mushrooms, but I dont know which ones are edible vs. poisonous. Last summer all of my fruit, most of my vegetables, and some of my grain were from gardening.

Chestnuts are more starchy and less fat than other nuts. Good roasted ones are sweet. Northeastern US was covered with American chestnut forests until they were wiped out by Asian chestnut blight. Chinese anf Japanese chestnuts are resistant to blight, very popular eating in Asia. Some modern ones are hybrids with Chinese or Japanese species for the blight resistance.

I ordered 2 varieties of hybrids. I imagine they will be very small. They claim growth is rapid.

Daniel, you've got me curious. I'm not sure if I know what chestnuts even taste like. They're surely not the same as the water chestnuts in chop suey, etc.? I'll have to google both of them when I'm done here. In any case, I'm glad to see you're getting into planting nut trees.

Chris, my arugula comes up voluntarily in my garden (since it usually goes to seed). I hate to see it go to waste, and it is pretty. So I do mix it in my salads, but still, it's too strong for me to really enjoy. I'm one of those persons that will drink milk that's soured just so not to dump it down the drain! Such a product of "the great depression" parents!

On arugula, I just like trying different things. Last year I moved the biggest juiciest dandelions from lawn to rich garden bed, fertilized and water, and they were more tender and less bitter as a salad green. I liked them. Maybe I will like arugula, if not, thats ok. This year I also want to try amaranthus greens.

Kathy you are right about those being scrubby trees. i think they didnt have much of a root system and the massive blackberry brambles may have had a role too. The soil is very soft there. Im gradually cutting them for next year's firewood. I need to replace my broken chainsaw. I am also planting a row of cypress to hold soil, shade out blackberries on the north (ravine) side, and give privacy.

My favorite Steve Martin movie was either The Jerk or All of Me.

This nut tree thing has me a little excited. Ive been reading about chestnuts. Apparently the cultvated hybrids can start bearing in 3-5 years, are better tasting and not susceptible to chestnut blight. They do grow very large, so space is needed but I have space. Plus it might take several decades to grow really huge, if they get the chance.

Spud, I just dropped a few seeds at the end of the tomato row. The cotton didn't take up much room at all.
Daniels trees look like what we call scrubs around here. The ones left over after the good trees have been harvested out. Then the scrubs get larger but they don't usually make straight, sturdy, trees.

Daniel, I see you're planting Arugula. I've never eaten it or even heard of it until I watched one of my favorite movies, the very funny My Blue Heaven.

Steve Martin plays a criminal that has been secreted away by the FBI in a small community until he is to testify against a mobster. He's just leaving a grocery store, with a cart full of steak that he's put low price stickers on, when he's stopped by management, and ask how he likes his shopping experience.

They tell him to let them know if there's anything he would like them to stock, and he says "Arugula!" They ask what that is and he gives them a look, and says "It's a veg-e-table."

Daniel, congratulation on clearing that large area of those tasty weeds. Most of those trees seem to be leaning a lot. Is there high winds that come through there, or something else that makes them lean?